Out of the Mouth of Roni

How an 8-year-old is holding down the borders of Israel.

Two boys race into the elevator of Jerusalem's Renaissance Hotel an hour before Shabbat. Thin and dark-complexioned, speaking Hebrew, wearing shorts and T-shirts, and holding plastic bowls filled with unshelled sunflower seeds (Israel's ubiquitous snack), the boys do not look like typical guests at a five-star hotel. In Hebrew, I ask them where they are from.

"Sderot," is their one-word reply.

"Who's paying for your Shabbat in Jerusalem?"

"ZAKA."

Sderot, of course, is the Israeli city of 20,000 Jews located just 900 meters from the Gaza Strip. A more or less constant bombardment of Kassam rockets from Gaza has killed 12 people, some of them children, and injured many hundreds. A few months ago a 10-year-old boy lost his leg in a Kassam attack.

Thousands of the city's residents suffer from Post Traumatic Stress, including endemic bedwetting among children. PTS is actually a misnomer, as the traumatic condition of being sitting ducks for lethal rocket attacks is present and ongoing, not past.

Many charity organizations such as ZAKA (best known for collecting body parts after terror attacks) give Sderot residents a short respite from living under fire by bringing them for brief periods to other Israeli cities. There they will not be awakened in the middle of the night by a "Color Red" siren warning them that a Kassam rocket is on its way from Gaza. There the children can play outdoors without fear. There families can venture outside without worrying that the 15-second-warning afforded them by the siren will not be enough time to reach a shelter. On this particular Shabbat, ZAKA is treating fifteen Sderot families to a weekend in Jerusalem.

On Shabbat afternoon, my husband and I are walking through the lobby when we notice five young girls sitting around a table munching on sunflower seeds.

"They're from Sderot," my husband identifies them.

I approach the group and strike up a conversation, eager to know what it's like for children to live in a battle zone. The girls tell me their names and ages. Two are eight-years-old, two are nine, and one is ten.

"If we're at home, we run into our safe room. Our apartment has a fortified room. We run there and wait until the rocket has landed."

"That's very convenient," I say, "to have a safe room right in your own apartment. Do all the apartments in Sderot now have safe rooms?"

"No," Miri answers. "Some of our friends have to run downstairs to the bomb shelter in the basement of their building."

"That must be hard in the middle of the night," I suggest. All the girls nod their heads sadly.

"But what's worse is when you're outside, like on your way to school," pipes up Daniela, "and the Color Red goes off. There might not be any shelter close enough to run to."

Aware that some 4,000 Sderot residents -- 16% of the population -- have already left the dangerous city, I ask, "Would you like to move to Jerusalem?"

Four of the girls shake their heads. "No," Helit answers, "Sderot is my home. I don't want to leave."

"Neither do I," says Miri. "I was born in Sderot."

"So was I," add two other girls.

I look at Roni, the only one who has not responded. With a thoughtful gaze, she picks her words carefully. "I would like to move to Jerusalem, because it's the holy city," Roni admits. "But I will not leave Sderot. Because if I leave and my family leaves and other families leave, very few families will want to move to Sderot."

(Exactly zero, I'm thinking.)

This eight-year-old girl sees that to abandon Sderot is to, piece by piece, abandon all of Israel.

"And then," continues the eight-year-old, "Sderot will be empty. And then the Arabs will take over the city. And then the Arabs will start shooting missiles at other cities. And then the Jews will move away from those cities. And then the Arabs will take over all of Israel.

"So," Roni sums up her position, "I'm staying in Sderot."

A lump has formed in my throat. This eight-year-old girl is holding down the borders of Israel for the rest of us. With perfect clarity, she sees that to abandon Sderot is to, piece by piece, abandon all of Israel. And to hold fast in Sderot, despite the lethal attacks, despite the risk to life and limb, despite the fear-laced days and siren-laced nights, is to hold on to the Jewish homeland.

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About the Author

Sara Yoheved Rigler is the author of God Winked: Tales and Lessons from my Spiritual Adventures, as well as the bestsellers: Holy Woman, Lights from Jerusalem, and Battle Plans: How to Fight the Yetzer Hara(with Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller). She is a popular international lecturer on subjects of Jewish spirituality. She has given lectures and workshops in Israel, England, Switzerland, South Africa, Mexico, Chile, Canada, and over thirty American cities. A graduate of Brandeis University, after fifteen years of practicing and teaching meditation and Eastern philosophy, she discovered "the world's most hidden religion: Torah Judaism." Since 1985, she has been living as a Torah-observant Jew in the Old City of Jerusalem with her husband and two children. She presents a highly-acclaimed Marriage Workshop for women [seewww.kesherwife.com] as well as a Gratitude Workshop. To invite her to your community, please write to info@sararigler.com.

Visitor Comments: 13

(13)
Annette,
August 17, 2008 8:30 PM

amazing

I was blessed to have been in Sderot on thurs. 17 of July, this article appears the 20th, this was my first trip to Israel on a "HerO Israel" mission led by Zale & Rochel N. from aish's Village Shul in Toronto, we must have been in Jerusalem for Shabbat at the same time as these kids who display a maturity beyond their years by virtue of their life style in Sderot, nothing in this world could diminish these kids' joy for Shabbat in Jerusalem, on the contrary - I'm sure they savoured a most delicious Shabbat, and we can learn from them, they are, together will all the people of Sderot some of our many Heroes in all of Israel :)
The lovely young women we spoke with in Sderot moved us with the same resolution.

(12)
Mark Glenn,
July 25, 2008 10:18 AM

did you ruin their Shabbos

Who was that annonymous? What are you talking about? The children definately appreciated the interaction.In addition when one talks about their self sacrifice it strenghthens and solidifies their feelings. Especially when "outsiders" agree. So did She ruin their Shabbos. The answer is an emphatic "NO", SHE ENHANCED IT. THANK YOU SARA FOR A MOST BEAUTIFUL MESSAGE.

(11)
Janet,
July 22, 2008 10:52 PM

This is a very inspiring article. Thanks for sharing it with us.

(10)
Anonymous,
July 21, 2008 8:55 PM

But did you ruin what their Shabbos away was for?

Some many worked so hard to give these girls a Shabbos away from the reality they knew too well. I understand there were things YOU wanted to know, and you wrote an insightful piece, but I wish you had left those little girls alone to play and have fun and not discuss with you what life there was like.

(9)
Yaakov D,
July 21, 2008 4:11 PM

Thanks. Let's send it along.

Thank you for an amazingly clarifying story, a truth beyond what the NY Times and unfortunately, even many Jews, can see.

Let's pass this story along to as many people as we can.

Again, thank you.

(8)
cheryl,
July 21, 2008 2:11 PM

the child has panash - if more of us had that committment and bravery. I wish I did!

(7)
Anonymous,
July 21, 2008 12:04 PM

tell that to olmert and his cabinet

I read this article and felt shame for the present israeli government. that a little 8 yr old girl could think more clearer than grown men is absolutely tragic for a people who were chosesn by HASHEM to be the light of the earth.
What is happening to Israel? Can we choose better leaders? Do we have to look to children to receive wisdom and understanding????!!!!!

(6)
Daniel,
July 20, 2008 9:57 PM

Maybe I should move to Sderot

I plan to make aliyah by June 5772 (BS"D). I too have always dreamed of living in Yerushalayim so that I could pray at the Kotel - and on the Temple Mount [with the Help of HaShem] - on a daily basis. However, after reading this story, I will need to reconsider my first choice of residence.

Yasher koach!

(5)
raye,
July 20, 2008 1:00 PM

"The Last Leaf"

This reminds of when (in 1968) I had my students at Kibbutz Ginosar read O'Henry's story "The Last Leaf". Their written responses of what the world would be like if there was only one leaf left was very similar to what the Sderot children said.

(4)
Lydia,
July 20, 2008 1:00 PM

British Friends of ZAKA continue to support the dedicated ZAKA volunteers in Sderot

Thank you for this touching article that really shows the human side of this story.
The weekend was sponsored by the British Friends of ZAKA (www.zaka.org.uk) which provides not only essential equipment for the dedicated ZAKA volunteers to carry out their sacred work but also offers some desperately-need R&R for the volunteers and their families, all of whom live under the constant threat of kassam attacks.
Before Shabbat, the group was taken to the Biblical Zoo as a treat. Every time a message was broadcast over the loudspeaker system, the children (and adults) jumped as they thought they were back home hearing yet another Code Red siren.
[Sarah - please contact me at the email address given. I would like your permission to reprint the article on our website.]

(3)
ruth housman,
July 20, 2008 8:10 AM

Sderot

This is a beautiful, poignant story. I feel so much for the children everywhere. They are truly our hope, our future as they are the next generation and children are wise beyond their years. All children.

Somehow I think the answer lies with the children. In their beauty, in their innocence, is truth. I don't think children want war, on either side. I think children want to play, to laugh, to sing, and to grow like sunflowers, in the same sun, wherever they are planted.

(2)
avi,
July 20, 2008 7:59 AM

olmert

now only if our 'good friend' ehudi could take something away from this girl, and convert hours of pointless
"diplomacy" with Hamas and actually do something about the situation. It feels to me that the current government's incompetance is borderline 'anti-zionism'. After all, what country BUT Israel would allow it's citizens to live in constant danger and fear? hmmmm. . .

(1)
Rivkah,
July 20, 2008 7:45 AM

From the mouth of Babes

Even an 8 year old understands the pricelessness of every inch of the land of Israel. Too bad the Prime Minister and his government don't. To bad they don't feel it vital to keep Roni safe by defending Sderot. In her simple
view she knows she must stand firm. But
does she know that her counrty owes her
a right to live safely? She accepts what is happening to her with equanimity. She is a hero. She is in Hashem's army.